Fire Safety

Smoke alarms, Carbon Monoxide, Fire Extinguishers and Smoke Hoods should be installed on every level of the home. Where the only way down from second, third floors, etc. is a stairwell (stairwells can act like chimneys in a fire), then an escape ladder should be situated in the bedroom area, under a bed or easily accessible in a closet. Make sure everyone knows where it is.

Escape

Set up a plan and practice it- in daylight and the dark. You think you are familiar with your home but I guarantee you that when the smoke alarms are blaring, children are screaming, you are choking, eyes burning and visibility is almost zero, the simplest mistake can be fatal. I have personal experience in recovering the body of an individual that died from smoke inhalation due to the fact that they thought the door handle was on the wrong side of the door. In their panic they lost precious seconds and died.

In the event that you have to exit from a second floor window and above -without a ladder - instruct family members to hang from their fingertips from a window or ledge that doesn't have smoke or fire below it. This serves a double purpose - if smoke and gases have compromised the room, then hanging below the window will allow them to breathe clean air. Secondly, if no-one can reach them with a ladder in time and they let go, they have reduced the height of the fall by their own height, plus the length of their arms. In my instance - at 6'2", I reduced the drop height by 8'. That makes a big difference when you land. Also, teach the family how to land properly from a height. You want to spread the impact across multiple body points - avoiding head contact. When you land, you want the balls of the feet to contact first (pointing your toes down will insure the balls of the feet hit first) - with knees slightly bent (this acts as a shock absorber), as you fall sideways - not backwards or forwards. Your objective is to collapse in such a way that the side of your lower leg, then thigh, then hip, then upper body take the impact one after the other - almost going into a tucked roll - protect your head with your arms. You can practice this roll directly on the lawn or other soft surface. The most important aspect of this landing is not to fall directly back or forward, as your head will strike the ground with tremendous force. Parkour experts can land from great heights without injury by distributing the landing forces properly. Just buy an escape ladder and avoid the risk of fall injuries.